Chandigarh: This is one lesson the teachers and staff of a government school in a Punjab town got the hard way on Friday.

Sixteen teachers and staff members, including the principal, were placed under suspension when Punjab's education minister raided the school in Mohali town, 10 km from here, and found them either absent or coming late.

Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka, who arrived at the Government Model Senior Secondary School in Phase-3B1 of the town on Friday morning was not only surprised to see the staff arriving late but was also shocked at the upkeep of the school. He immediately ordered the suspension of school principal Baljinder Singh, five lecturers and other staffers.

"During the raid, the minister also found out that the place of the morning prayers was filled with muddy water and due to lack of cleanliness, the washrooms were stinking and there was no arrangement for drinking water," a spokesman of the minister said here. He said the minister warned the late-comers and categorically said no complacency would be tolerated on the part of teaching or non-teaching staff.

The minister asked the secretary-school education to seek explanation from the absent lecturers. Talking to mediapersons after the raid, the minister said the Punjab government was committed to improving education standards in government schools and he would make surprise raids more frequently throughout the state. He told education department officers to conduct surprise visits with the dual purpose of ensuring punctuality of teachers and maintaining standard of education being imparted in government schools.